neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.”*

But is this all? And are we to stand on tiptoe, gazing, like the men of Galilee, for the opening of the cloud to reveal the Son of man? And

*It has been already proved, that the coming of the Lord here spoken of, can be no other than His last personal advent: and how, I ask, could such language as this be used, if the millennium be antecedent to that advent? Should it be replied, that after the millennium, Satan is again to deceive the nations of the earth, and re-introduce a state of things similar to that in the days of Noah and Lot, and that to that period the language before us applies; I observe, first, that this supposition implies that during some intervening period a different state of things shall have been introduced. In fact, it asserts that the millennium shall intervene. I then compare it with the Lord's description of the whole interval between His first and second coming, (Matt. xiii. 24-30, 38-43:) "Let both grow together UNTIL the harvest." The harvest is the end of this dispensation; when the Son of man shall return, with the holy angels, who are the reapers. Let both tares and wheat grow together, is characteristic of the whole period of the Lord's absence. Now, I ask, is this phrase, let both grow together, equally characteristic of the millennium and of this dispensation? If it be answered, yes; I cannot for a moment dispute that such a millennium will precede the coming of the Lord: we have it already. The millennium predicted by the Holy Ghost is not, however, so motley a concern as this would make it. Its characteristics are," The people shall be ALL righteous"—"They shall all know the Lord, from the least of them unto the greatest of them”"They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain "The earth shall be covered with the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea "From the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same, my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in EVERY place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a PURE offering; for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts." These and similar predictions, manifestly describe a state of things contrasted

are we to be so engrossed on this watch-tower, as to neglect or despise all the surrounding duties of the present time? This leads to the next clause in our Lord's application of His discourse, and also to the next parable by which that clause is enforced: "Who, then, is a faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord hath made ruler over His household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when He cometh, shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, that He shall make him ruler over all His goods. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My Lord delayeth His coming, and [mark the connexion between this state of heart and the life consequent thereupon] shall begin to smite his fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; the Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for Him, and in an hour that he is not aware of; and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the

with the present. That state is the millennium. The tares must be removed previous and preparatory to the millennium. The season of the removal of the tares is the harvest. The harvest is the period of the Lord's coming with the holy angels. Consequently, the Lord's coming must be previous and preparatory to the millennium.

It may here be remarked, how every sectarian effort to get what is called a pure church, is a petty attempt to antedate the millennium by the removal of the tares. In all such attempts the wheat is also removed, or tares are mistaken for wheat, or both, and the scheme proves abortive. A visible church, and open communion, correspond with our Lord's "Let both grow together until the harvest." Then, indeed, "the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.”

hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." For as a man, travelling into a far country, called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods, and said, Occupy till I come; and when he came, reckoned with them according to their diligence or negligence: so, when the Son of man shall come in His glory, shall He do with all the nations, (there is no mention of the resurrection of the dead,) separating them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats.*

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Occupy till I come," is therefore the Lord's answer to the inquiry now before us; and it loudly calls to an honest, conscientious, self-denying, and persevering faithfulness in the use of all the opportunities which God has given us, of improving ourselves or benefiting others. What shall we do, then? That must depend upon who and what

* The 14th verse of this 25th chapter, is an unfinished form of sentence, beginning with the relative ὥσπερ. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἄνθρωπος ἀποδημῶν ἐκάλεσε τοὺς ἰδίους δούλους, καὶ παρέδωκεν, &c. There is no correlative to ὥσπερ to be found in the whole context of the parable; the sentence, therefore, is still an unfinished one at the 30th verse; and I understand the parallel statement, from verse 31 to the end, as supplying the correlative to the parable of the talents. This latter statement is usually called the parable of the sheep and the goats: but it is not a parable at all. The language describes the literal facts of the case-the coming of the Lord in person; the righteous and the wicked standing before Him—and the mention of the sheep and the goats is merely a simile illustrative of the separation which He will then effect between the righteous and the wicked.

we are, and what talents we have received to trade withal. This opens a wide field of social, relative, and professional details, concerning many of which the Scripture is express and clear. Let diligent search be made, therefore, among God's precepts, for those which are peculiarly applicable to our case; and let no compromising casuistry warp the verdict of our conscience. There must, indeed, remain many particulars concerning which we shall find no express commandment, and in the management of which we are consequently left to the exercise of a discretion, which is the best possible trial of our love. Love is fruitful in devising expedients to please: and it is worthy of remark —nay, it should never be lost sight of-that the slothful servant and the goats are described as perishing, not for any disobedience to a positive command, but for such OMISSIONS as betrayed a want of active ingenious love: “Inasmuch as ye did it not to the least of these my brethren, ye did it not to me."

In conclusion, I request the reader to advert to the opening observations of this paper, and to mark well that the question at issue is too vital in itself, and too comprehensive in its inevitable connexion, for any Christian man to turn away from with impunity. With the unfeigned affection of a brother, and the lawful authority of a minister of Christ's Church, I charge him to guard against allowing his convictions concerning these great things of God to remain adrift, like a vessel

without a helm and as a beacon of warning, I here record a small but fruitful incident; fruitful, because characteristic.

After discussing the subject of this paper, and other similar topics, with an evangelical clergyman who denied and opposed my views, I ceased to occupy the defensive position, and asked him his view of several of those passages of Scripture which are the turning points of the whole debate. The substance of his reply on each of these occasions was, The passage is very important; very important, indeed: but I have not made up my mind as to the meaning of it!

When such ignorance is felt, and the consequent necessity for inquiry is admitted, all is well -(this is the condition of the most advanced, at some point or other)-but when it is accompanied by ill-dissembled self-complacency on the score of spirituality of mind, as though spirituality were an excuse for ignorance (and that in a teacher, too!) and not only so, but as though advancing intelligence were necessarily an enemy to spirituality; and when, together with all this, the interpretation of those very passages offered by a brother is peremptorily and confidently denied as carnal and worldly; then, certainly, there is ground for severe animadversion, more severe than I choose to write in this place.

Luther said," Charity beareth all things, faith nothing." This is well said. True faith is jealous for the honour of her Lord, and can bear no compromise. True charity is self-denying for the